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Silencing of Scientists

Over the past few years, news reports that several federal
scientists were prevented from speaking to the media have
gained public attention, including those of Scott Dalimore1 at
Natural Resources Canada, Kristi Miller2 at the Department
of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), and David Tarasick3 at
Environment Canada

These are the opening words of a report by the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. The report is titled

The report set out to gauge the actual scale of so-called muzzling and political interference on science conducted every day. Of special interest to this blog is the muzzling of science regarding the general state of the natural environment & innovation on which Canadians and the Canadian economy depend.

According to the survey,
nine out of 10 federal
scientists (90%) do not feel
that they can speak freely to
the media about the work
they do. While this statistic
alone is worrisome, the
survey reveals a further,
more troubling finding.
Faced with a departmental
decision or action that could
harm public health, safety or
the environment, nearly as
many (86%) do not believe they could share their concerns with the public or media
without censure or retaliation from their department. As
one respondent commented: “The current government is
re-creating federal departments to serve the interests of
its industry and business supporters and subverting the
science....Public servants with a conscience live in fear [of
opening] their mouths to the media or the public ....”

Nearly half of the scientists are aware of suppressed information:

Nearly half (48%) are aware of actual cases in
which their department or agency suppressed information,
leading to incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading impressions
by the public, regulated industry, the media and/or
government officials.

Some other startling statistics from the report include:

37% report that
they were prevented from responding to questions from the
public and media by public relations staff or management
over the past five years;

24% report being directly asked to exclude or alter
information for non-scientific reasons;

74% believe that the sharing of government science findings with
the public has become too restricted over the past five years;

71% believe Canada’s
ability to develop policy, law and programs based on scientific
evidence has been compromised by political interference;

86% believe public would be better served by greater transparency.

It would be interesting to find out where other nations' scientists stand.

Comments

I have long contended that THE most angry people in this whole sorry sage are those ethical scientists who know, but are prevented from 'coming out', about corruption of climate science. These scientists are not only those involved in climate science; they are from all corners of the scientific world. Political corruption of climate science will eventually become common public knowledge. That public knowledge will breed distrust of scientists in all manner of disciplines.Roll on the day that the scientific world insists on diligent application of the scientific method.

Sir Henry Fraser has an impressive CV.
Barbados' newest knight, retired university professor, Dr. Henry Fraser, received the Accolade of Knight of St. Andrew, in the 2014 Independence Day Hours. Sir Henry Fraser was named as a result of The Knighthood of St. Andrew being bestowed on him for his outstanding contribution to the medical profession and representation of Barbadian culture, especially in the area of its architectural history.Sir Henry, a medical practitioner by profession, has worked for many years as a lecturer in medicine at the University of the West Indies and now serves as an Independent Senator in the Barbados Parliament where he has gained an outstanding reputation for his work on the historic treasures of Barbados.

He has received a plethora of other awards, including the UWI’s Pelican Award, Paul Harris Fellow of Rotary International and the Gold Crown of Merit (GCM) in the Barbados Honours of 1992.